XCOM: Operation Pathfinder
by K Fire0210
Summary: Dr Tygan has, on the orders of the Commander, been studying an orb of some kind that appeared out of nowhere in the North American region. This orb happens to be a gateway to another dimension and some of its inhabitants have been dumped into the year 2035 on a world run by aliens. These adventurers are not prepared for XCOM's method of war or its attitude to non-humans.
1. Chapter 1

Timeline of events detailing humanity's interaction with extra-terrestrial life:

1962-The United States Bureau of Strategic Emergency Command (USSECOM) is founded by President John F. Kennedy with the mission directive of organising the US military and its assets into a coordinated insurgency in the event of Soviet military forces occupying the United States. Numerous special agents are recruited from the US army, CIA and FBI in order to provide a wide range of talents and experience to the group. Director Myron Faulke has these operatives search the world for what he believes is technology not from the Earth.  
Midway through the year, Earth is attacked by the Zudjari. These aliens strike at important military installations and some isolated towns and villages all across the world.

1963-The USSECOM shows to be the most effective group at both fighting the Zudjari troops and covering up any evidence of the invasion at all. If one were to ask an average civilian at the time if an alien invasion was happening then they would be looked at like a crazy person. Similar groups in other nations report successes to their own governments and begin sharing intelligence with one another. This leads to President Kennedy extending an invitation to combine anti-alien divisions to all NATO members. The USSECOM is combined with the British Unified Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), the French Division of Intelligence and Republic Security (DIRS) and the Canadian Dominion Protection Service (DPS) to form the Extra-terrestrial Combat Project, or XCOM for short. Faulke is made the Commander of the Project.

1966-The Zudjari begin to get desperate as XCOM grows stronger through the reverse engineering of what limited alien tech they can get their hands on. The leader of the Zudjari force authorises a simultaneous attack on Moscow, Warsaw, Berlin and Jerusalem. The Zudjari soldiers sent are given express orders to try and make it seem like an attack from NATO. XCOM forces are deployed to counter the incursion. Soviet military forces make contact with XCOM and the situation is explained to Soviet High Command. The attackes are fought off and President Johnson, reluctantly, offers an invitation to the XCOM project to the leaders of the Warsaw Pact and, less reluctantly, to Israel, Japan, China and Iran.

1967-The Zudjari leader is captured after XCOM launches an assault on his undersea headquarters. The Zudjari Invasion is beaten as the last remnants are hunted down. Over the next year, all evidence of the alien incursion is covered up with only conspiracy theorists having any idea the danger humanity was in. The Project is closed down until such a time that it is needed again.  
Future XCOM Commander, Andrew Bishop, is born on the 27th of November in York, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

1971-John Bradford is born on the 14th of January in Manhattan, Kentucky, United States.  
Dr Moira Vahlen is born on the 30th of March in Strasbourg, Grand Est, France to a German mother and Italian father.

1988-Andrew Bishop joins the Royal Marine Commandos.  
John Bradford joins the US naval cadets.  
Moira Vahlen begins college studying chemistry, biology and astro-physics.

1991-John Bradford joins the US navy as an officer.  
Moira Vahlen begins her university studies.

1996-Andrew Bishop passes the test to join the SAS.

2004-The Council of Nations receives word of an unknown contact entering the solar system. Scouting for new XCOM personnel begins.  
Andrew Bishop is promoted to Major before being honorably discharged on medical grounds after taking a sniper round just under the knee, nearly severing his leg.

2014-Unknown contacts first spotted at the edge of the Solar System are identified as alien craft. The Council recruits its scouted personnel into XCOM. The Project is reactivated.

2015-The Etherial Invasion begins as Hamburg is attacked by alien forces. XCOM deploys to counter every attack made against Earth under the direction of Commander Bishop. Near the end of the year, the alien 'Temple Ship' is destroyed by XCOM forces led by the Volunteer, one of the first Psi-Ops, a French woman named Annette Durand. The Volunteer does not survive the mission. A month later, a fleet of Temple Ships arrive and force the Council to surrender. XCOM HQ is attacked and the Commander is taken after a brutal fire fight. Bradford, Engineer Shen and Dr Vahlen escape with the aid of the 'Furies', a group of XCOM soldiers known for their brutality. The ADVENT Coalition is established as a puppet government by the Etherial Collective, led by the Elders. The Japanese attempt to resist for as long as possible with the aid of the XCOM base built there to monitor the UFO detection satellites above Asia. This results in what has become known as the 'Kiryu-Kai Disaster' to any XCOM friendly groups.

2035-Operation Gatecrasher marks XCOM's official restart as the Commander is rescued from ADVENT by Bradford and a small group of brave soldiers. The Commander almost entirely changes the course of the war as the resistance, led by XCOM, gains victory after victory against the Elders and their puppets. Later that year, XCOM tracks a strange energy signature to the North American wilderness. Dr Richard Tygan, XCOM's new head scientist, theorises it to be a portal of some kind...

_

It'd been a long day for Colonel Lucas 'Viking' Kolbeck. He and his squad, Menace, had been assigned to protect the scientists and engineers sudying the weird yellow orb that the local Resistance Haven had discovered and so far, nothing had happened. The engineers, being directed by Lily Shen, had built a kind of scaffold around the thing so Tygan and his crew could better monitor the energy output and attempt to theorise on what, exactly, this glowing orb was. Wraith One, the other squad assigned to guard duty, were mainly watching his own team playing a game of cards. "Full house! Lets see ya beat that!" Said the familiar Australian voice of Major Dave 'Outback' Hash, Menace's sharpshooter and Lucas' closest friend. Two of the other players groaned and put their own cards down. "Scheisse, how are you so good at zis game?" asked the team grenadier, a dark skinned German man named Wolfgang 'Panzer' Keller whose black hair was tied back in a Nordic style braid and a pair of dark glasses covered his eyes. Numerous scars covered his face from a close encounter with a Chryssalid. A cigarette hung from his lips. The Polish Specialist sat next to him, Oskar 'Hussar' Slawinski, nodded in agreement. Dave let out a chuckle and took the ration bars being used as currency for the game. The third player placed their cards down, looking confused. "I do not understand these human games." Said Pratal Mox, XCOM's first Skirmisher.

"We got that in common, mate. Ain't never really been too good at poker, neither." Spoke up Lucas, his rough British accent covering his words. He looked over to the other end of the make-shift camp, towards the sixth and final member of Menace. Their Psi-Operative, Leah Williams, was meditating with Wraith One's Templar, Anna Artyasovich. The sound of a jet engine could be heard as a Skyranger flew over and set down in the centre of the camp. The back ramp opened and out stepped two figures, one was wearing a suit of green and white plated combat armor, standard issue for XCOM soldiers, and had short brown hair that was starting to grey. A 5 O'clock shadow covered his lower face and a large battle riffle was slung over his shoulder. The other man had short blond hair with a few streaks of silver running through it. A well-kept but still decent beard covered his lower face. He was wearing a black and light grey original XCOM officer's uniform with a yellow XCOM insignia on the right side of his chest. A large pistol rested on one side of his hip and a combat knife was on the other. These two were Central Officer Bradford and Commander Bishop. Someone shouted out "Officers on deck!" and every person in the camp snapped to attention in a salute. The only ones who didn't were the SPARK robots, too busy patrolling the perimeter to respond to what was happening in the main area.

The Commander looked around before saying "As you were." and walking down the ramp of the Skyranger, Bradford falling into step beside him. The Commander walked with a small but visible limp from an old war wound that never quite healed properly. "Tygan, we got your message. What's happening?" He said, approaching the scientist. The doctor turned and typed something into his datapad before addressing his CO. "Commander, Central, I believe the...orb that we've been studying here has been leaching off of the latent psionic energy that Earth possesses to power itself and that it has gained almost enough to finish whatever it may be doing."  
"And what might that be, doctor?" asked Bradford, looking toward the bright yellow sphere.  
"I theorise that it may be a portal of some kind though not one made by the aliens. Where it leads, we can not say for certain. However, it does appear to be growing at an unprecedented way."  
"Growing?" Questioned Andrew.  
"Yes, Commander. It appears that this phenomenon is increasing its size. It has slowed considerably since we first noticed, however. It is unlikely that it will grow any further and as such, will not be a threat to anyo-"

Just as Tygan was in the middle of speaking, the orb appeared to explode. If any of the XCOM members had not been blinded or knocked over then they may have noticed some humanoid shapes drop from the centre of the orb.

_

Meanwhile, approximately 600 years into the future of an alternate universe:

Why did she agree to come on _this_ mission? What possessed her to say _yes_ to going into some dark, killer robot filled ruin on a planet they'd decided to terraform the old fashioned way? Oh, right. Her stupid boyfriend had. It'd been about four months since the crew of the Tempest had taken down the Archon and stopped the Kett from destroying everything the Initiative had been trying to build. The people of the Heleus Cluster had chosen, in recognition of Scott's achievements and ability, had renamed the original human golden world to Ryder-1. Of course, he more than deserved it. The crew who were in charge had discovered a Remnant ruin and didn't want to risk any lives looking inside so of course the Pathfinder had volunteered and gone in with three others. Jaal, their Angaraan resistance contact, Peebee, their Remnant expert and her, Vetra, The Queen Quartermaster and Pathfinder Ryder's girlfriend. Now, they had been backed into a corner, with their communications down and a giant yellow orb thing getting bigger and bigger. "I know its getting bigger SAM, please don't distract me right now!" Shouted Scott as he sent another singularity into the ever increasing horde of machines charging at them.  
"Ryder! I don't think we can hold them back much longer!" Yelled Vetra over the gunfire and explosions, fear very much present in her subharmonics, not that anyone there could tell.  
"We just need to get some breathing room, then we can make a break for it!" He responded.  
"I'm out of ammo!" Came Peebee's voice from somewhere else in the cavern like structure they were in. A biotic explosion sounded after.  
"Scott, the orb looks very unstable! We need to move!" Said Jaal as he fired another round from his modified Kett rifle.

He wasn't wrong, either. Ever since the damn thing had turned on when they walked in it been getting bigger with more arcs of energy shooting out from its surface. A particularly strong one went all across the room, zapping the bots and thankfully shut them down.  
"Oh, thank god." gasped the Pathfinder. The four regrouped, fully expecting to be swarmed yet again. Instead, the orb that had attracted the remnant bots to them began to shake and lash out at its surroundings. The room began falling apart and the orb seemed to be eating everything in its way. According to SAM, they weren't getting out in time and comms were still down. They didn't even gain the chance to say anything as the massive wall of yellow swallowed them whole and turning the world black.

Author's note:  
I've had this idea floating around in my head for a couple weeks now and I thought it was about time to write it down. I hope to see you next time!

For those who are following the rewrite of Storm Warning, I'm having a small break but it will be updated soon, don't you worry.


	2. Chapter 2

Just as soon as it happened, the bright flash caused by the explosion had faded. Everyone in the area had been knocked over and blinded in a way similar to a flashbang. The Commander and Central were the first two back to their feet, weapons raised at the unconscious figures laying on the ground were the orb had been. Menace Squad was up soon after and Wraith One followed after spending a moment to gather themselves. Following the XCOM leaders' example, the sound of many magnetic weapons cocking and being raised could be heard. The Commander moved forward to try and gain a better look at the unknowns. "Be prepared, we have four unidentified contacts, only one is human." He said as he pushed one of the armored bodies to get a look at its face. "Weapons down, they're out of it."

The soldiers all lowered their guns but kept them prepared. Bradford moved up to the Commander, stepping over one body. "Orders, Commander?" he asked. The older man holstered his pistol as a look of consideration rested on his face.  
"These aren't like the ones the Elders send at the resistance. For all we know, ADVENT has no idea they exist. I want to know what they are and who that is," he said as he pointed at the one human of the group "We take them back to the Avenger and we find out what they know." Bradford nodded, though he looked concerned.  
"Yes sir but...where do we put them?"  
"The human goes to the infirmary. The aliens go to Tygan's lab, I'm sure Lily and her team can make something that can hold them until we want to chat." answered Andrew. He took a second to look at each of the aliens, barley keeping his eyes on the human. He raised a hand to his ear and began walking back to the Skyranger. "Firebrand, prep for transport of unconscious prisoners and try to make space for Menace and Wraith One, no way ADVENT didn't notice that bang," he took a moment to change frequencies "Avenger, is Big Sky ready for deployment?"

All things considered it was a miracle that the old Skyranger from the days of original XCOM was salvageable. They had found it in central Africa carrying experimental weapons and its black box gave a hint as to the whereabouts of Vahlen. Unfortunatly, Big Sky himself was no where to be found. Instead, they recruited a new pilot and he was given the honor of carrying on Big Sky's legacy.

"Good, send him down to pick up our scientists. I want everyone back home by midday."

The first thing Scott Ryder noticed was the smell. Wherever he was, it stank of medicine like Huerta Memorial on the Citadel. When he finally opened his eyes, it was to a clinic unlike any he had seen before. For one, he was the only one on any of the beds and their were no doctors around. It also looked like he was on a ship of some kind, though he couldn't identify the construction. It wasn't Initiative, Angara or Kett and he seriously doubted that the marauders could field anything with a medbay as advanced as this one looked. The entrance opened and he quickly closed his eyes once more, feigning unconsciousness. He counted two sets of footsteps, one set sounding considerably heavier. He assumed that one was armed and armored. "While I appreciate your wanting to keep me safe, Colonel Kolbeck, I'm only performing a brief check up of the subject. We've already located the strange implants he has and determined they can't contact any hostile channels or be tracked by the Network. You really should return to your squad." One voice said, sounding distinctly female with a small hint of a Spanish accent. The other voice, Colonel Kolbeck, responded. "Yeah, but the boss wants at least one 'o the lads to keep watch. I ain't about to disobey a direct order from the leader 'o the free world, even if I know ya more than capable of beating some pore sods arse if they give ya trouble. 'M pretty sure everybody on this bloody ship knows your not one to fuck about with."  
The female voice giggled and a small impact could be heard as she probably punched her companion in the shoulder. "I certainly hope so. I didn't spend an hour and a half hunting Elena across this ship just to be seen as the vulnerable civilian," the footsteps got louder until they sounded like they were right next to him. "Now please, be quiet so I can work."  
"I'll try, Mila."

The sound of tapping could be heard as the presumed doctor typed on something. Scott began to hear a static like sound right in his ear as what he thought was a scanner passed over him. The static soon gave way to a familiar and comforting voice. "Scott? Can you hear me Scott?"  
"_SAM? That you, bud?"  
_"Yes. It appears that the people who have captured you and the others have yet to find me."  
_"The others? Is that just Vetra, Peebee and Jaal or the entire crew?"  
_"Only those who accompanied you were taken. I can still detect their signatures not too far from our current position, however, I appear to have been disconnected from both the Tempest and the Hyperion."  
_"Damn. So no comms then. Can you tell me anything about where we are?"  
_"Not at this moment, no. The best course of action at this current time appears to be to wait until present company leaves and then make our way towards the rest of team."  
_"Yeah, me too."_

A few moments later the two people left and Scott slowly got off the bed. Quickly, he found a vent large enough for him to fit through and began following directions provided by SAM toward the area where his team was being held. It looked like a large room that was, for some reason or another, completely empty apart from the machines which looked to hold some scientific purpose. He dropped down from the vent and snuck towards the glass box his still knocked out friends where in. Carefully, he opened the door built into the side after SAM figured out the number combination to unlock it. He began waking his team.

"...And that's all I know so far." Finished Ryder, having just told the others everything he and SAM had figured out thus far.  
"So where do you think they're keeping our stuff?" asked Vetra, looking around the room.  
"No idea, but I'm hoping they have an armory or something we can find. We have to get out of here."

"I'm afraid that will not be happening for a good, long while." Came an authoritative voice from the other end of the room. All four of the Tempest ground team members' heads snapped over to a human man, backed by six other humans with weapons drawn, dressed in some kind of black and gray uniform with a yellow symbol that Scott recognised from various flags hung up in the corridors of the ship on the right side of his chest.

"Not until you answer the questions I've got for you and your _alien_ friends, collaborator."

Author's Note:  
Next chapter has the official meeting between the two sides. Will it be peaceful or violent? I'll never tell!  
Thank you for the follows!


	3. Chapter 3

"Woah, lets just...calm down. We don't want any trouble." Said Scott, raising his hands in the universal show of surrender. It did nothing to calm the people in front of him, whom he had quickly decided were almost certainly not pirates of any kind. No pirate gangs he had ever seen, both in Andromeda and while guarding a relay in his alliance days, had weapons or armor that looked anything like what these guys had. The man who was obviously in charge took a step forward, his face still set in a glare that could probably get an angry Krogan to think twice.

"As much as I'd like to believe you, the fact that your...companions are xenos and you were packing gear the likes of which we haven't even seen ADVENT utilise doesn't really provide much confidence." The Commander responded. His eyes flicked, for a moment so brief that it would be unnoticeable, to the area behind the unknowns. Wraith One was in position to start a crossfire with Menace. The two Reapers, Elana 'Outrider' Dragunova and Alastor 'Talk-Show' Cerf, had their rifles trained on the two blue aliens while Anna prepared to jump the human and Amoli 'Dasher' Bhalla slowly drew her sword and readied herself to charge the tall, spiky one.

"What do you have against aliens? And what the hell do you know about Advent?" Ryder demanded angrily. Who were these people to judge his team in such a negative light? Why were they so hostile to some small settlement of independent colonists on Eos?

"What do I know? I know their a puppet government run by hostile aliens whose whole purpose is to convince Earth that it needs to submit and let itself be destroyed. I know that they want people to think that the resistance is nothing but a bunch of bomb-happy terrorists. I know that they'll do everything in their power to try and recapture me so they can use my mind as a _FUCKING MACHINE _that they can use to _SLAUGHTER. MY. PEOPLE!"_

The outburst of the normaly very calm and stoic Commander had stunned everyone in the room. It became so quiet that you could hear the final words echo around the lab. He took a deep breath and got his nerves back together. His glare returned and his voice became deadly silent.

"So why don't _you _tell _me_ what you know?"

The Pathfinder team was taken aback by the question. First off, he said Earth as though they weren't in a different galaxy. Second, the only hostile aliens they knew of were the Kett remnants and what few die-hard roekaar cells remained.

"Earth? What do you mean Earth? That's back in the Milky Way."

"Back in? Just where do you think you are?"

"Ryder-1, formally Habitat 7, in Andromeda, last we checked." Ryder responded with a confused voice. His confusion grew as every other human in the room looked at him like he was crazy.

"No one I've ever met has ever left this solar system. Do you expect me to honestly believe you where in another galaxy of all things?"

"Yes, in fact I am from the Andromeda galaxy." Jaal spoke up. The humans in the room turned to look at him. One of the humans behind the Commander, one with a sniper rifle of unknown make, slightly turned his head to speak to the human with a shotgun next him. "The hell did that thing just say?" He said, his voice distinctly Australian.

"You don't understand him?" asked Scott.

"No, he just spoke in a completely foreign language that ADVENT doesn't use." The Commander said.

"You don't have translation software in your omnitools?"

"Omni-whats?"

The door behind the soldiers the visitors could see opened and two people, one wearing a lab coat and the other with a drone of some kind following them, sprinted in. The two were panting and could only huff out "Commander...stop...We've found something!"

Author's note:  
Just a short one today, sorry. College work has been getting in the way but I'll be sure to update more when Christmas break starts, the same can be said for the rewrite of Storm Warming. If you can spot the reference to a certain internet show then give yourself a pat on the back (it is really obvious if you've seen the show, so it isn't _quite _cookie worthy)!


End file.
